SAXON DURHAM Durham was founded by a group
of monks. A man named St Cuthbert was Bishop of Lindisfarne. St Cuthbert died
in 687 and soon people began to claim that miracles happened near his grave
(in those days people believed that dead bodies could work miracles). In 698
his body was exhumed and it was found that it had not decayed. As a result
a cult began around the body of St Cuthbert and many people came to visit
it. In the 10th century the Vikings raided the coast of England. In 985 the
monks who looked after Cuthbert's body decided to move from Lindisfarne to
somewhere safer. For 10 years they wandered from place to place until eventually
they settled at Durham. The name Durham means hill on an island. It comes
from the old English words dun meaning hill and holmr meaning island. A church
was built for the monks. The body of Cuthbert continued to act as a magnet
for visitors. Soon a town grew up on the site. It was an ideal site for a
town as it was easy to defend and it had a major 'tourist attraction'. The
Scots attacked Durham twice in 1006 and 1038 but both times they were driven
off.

DURHAM IN THE MIDDLE AGES In 1069 William
the conqueror sent 700 men to Durham. The next day the native Saxons marched
into the town and took the Normans by suprised. They were massacred. Rebellion
spread across the North of England. William retaliated by the 'harrying of
the North'. Peasants were killed, crops and houses were burned and livestock
slaughtered. The monks who looked after Cuthbert's body fled from Durham in
1069 but they returned in 1070. In 1072 the Normans built a castle in Durham
to keep the inhabitants in order. In 1083 they founded a Benedictine priory
(a small abbey) to replace the community who looked after Cuthberts body.

In 1093 the Norman bishop of Durham, William
of Calais began a cathedral. Cuthbert's body was finally laid to rest there
in 1104. Durham Cathedral was completed in 1133. In 1076 the new Norman bishop
was made the Earl of Bamburgh and was given the castle for his residence.
In 1091 William Rufus gave the Bishop royal powers. He had the right to mint
coins, raise an army and create barons. He could also levy taxes. He was called
the Prince-Bishop. He kept this title until 1836. In the Middle Ages the Bishop
controlled the town. During the 17th and 18th centuries his powers were eroded
and they were abolished in the early 19th century. In the Middle Ages the
centre of Durham was the peninsula formed by the bend in the river. In it
was the cathedral, the castle and the priory. West of the peninsula was an
area called the Old Borough. In the 12th century new areas were built. Northeast
of the peninsula St Giles borough grew up around St Giles hospital which was
founded in 1112. Also early in the 12th century an area called Bishops Borough
was built north of the peninsula by Bishop Flambard. He also built Framwell
bridge in 1120. Later in the century The Borough of Elvet was founded east
of the town. Elvet bridge was built in 1160. In Durham there were mills grinding
grain into flour. Mills were also used for fulling. After wool was woven it
was cleaned and thickened. This was done by pounding it in a mixture of water
and special clay called fullers earth. The pounding was done by wooden hammers
worked by a water mill. Apart from the manufacture of wool the main industry
in Durham was leather and there were many tanners. Before the Norman conquest
there was probably an earth rampart around Durham with a wooden palisade on
top. In the early 12th century it was replaced with a stone wall. In 1312
Robert the Bruce attacked Durham and burned the suburbs. After that a new
wall was built north of St Nicholas's Church. In Durham there was hospital
dedicated to St Giles. There was also a hospital dedicated to St Mary Magdelene
in Gilesgate. There was also a leper hostel, dedicated to St Leonard, north
of the town. The first town hall in Durham was built in 1356. By the mid 14th
century a school called the Almoners school existed by the priory. By the
early 15th century the monks of the priory had also founded a choir school.
Two more schools were founded for teaching music and grammar on Palace Green.

DURHAM IN THE 16th AND 17th CENTURIES In
1538 Henry VIII's men smashed the shrine of St Cuthbert. This was a severe
blow to Durham. The shrine had drawn many pilgrims to the town who would of
course spend money there. In 1539 Henry closed the priory. Fortunately the
grammar school founded in 1414 continued to function. In 1661 it was rebuilt
and became a well known public school. In 1536 Henry VII deprived the Bishop
of some of his powers.

The king feared that the Prince Bishop was
a rival to his power. Nevertheless the Bishop retained the title Prince Bishop
and he still controlled Durham. In 1565 the bishop formed a corporation of
a mayor and aldermen but they were definitely subservient to him. Like all
Tudor towns Durham suffered outbreaks of plague. There were outbreaks in 1544,
1589 and 1598. Then in 1640 the Scots rebelled when Charles I tried to impose
bishops on them (the Church of Scotland does not have bishops). The Scots
occupied Durham but the townspeople were, usually, sympathetic. Civil war
followed in 1642 and in 1644 the Scots joined in on the side of Parliament.
In 1644 they again occupied Durham. Again that year there was an outbreak
of plague. Later the English Parliament and the Scots fell out and they fought
the battle of Dunbar. Afterwards 4,000 Scottish prisoners were held in Durham
castle.

At the end of the century a writer called
Celia Fiennes described Durham: (I have edited her words to make them easier
to read). 'Durham city stands on a great hill. The cathedral and the castle
(which is the bishops palace) with the college are built of stone and are
encompassed with a wall full of battlements. There is a steep descent into
the rest of the town where is the market place which is a spacious place.
There is a very fair town hall on stone pillars and a very large conduit (to
bring water from the river to the townspeople). She also said that Durham
had 'clean and pleasant buildings'.

DURHAM IN THE 18th CENTURY A blue coat charity
school was opened in Durham in 1718. (It gots its name because of the colour
of the school uniforms). In the early 18th century a mustard making industry
began in Durham. Durham's first theatre opened in 1722 in Saddler Street.
In 1729 a statue of Neptune was erected in the Market Place. By the middle
of the 18th century Durham probably had a population of about 4,00-5,000.
Growth spread outwards to reach the hamlets around the town.

In 1771 Durham suffered a severe flood which
damaged Elvet bridge. Durham infirmary was founded in 1787. In 1790 an act
of parliament was passed setting up a body of men to pave and light the streets
(with oil lamps).

DURHAM IN THE 19th CENTURY At the time of
the first census in 1801 Durham had a population of about 7,500. The industrial
revolution largely passed Durham by, although, in the 19th century Durham
was famous for organ making and carpet making. Other industries were brewing
and paper mills. Although there was little, if any, industrialisation in Durham
the population rose significantly in the early 19th century. By 1821 it was
9,800. By the mid 19th century it had reached 14,000. Growth then slowed dramatically.
Durham Prison was built in 1820. In 1824 Durham was given gas street lighting.
We take street lights for granted but in the early 19th century a writer said
that among 'the comforts of this age' one of the most important was gas street
lighting. Later in the 19th century sewers were dug and a piped water supply
began. In 1836 Durham gained its first police force.

Durham University was founded as Britains
3rd university in 1832. The bishop gave the castle to the university to use
as a college in 1837. The castle keep was rebuilt to house students in 1840.
An observatory was built in 1841. Women were first admitted in 1896. The railway
reached Durham in 1844. A railway viaduct was built in 1857. The Town Hall
was rebuilt in 1851. It was paid for with money raised by public subscription.
Also in 1851 a covered market opened. In the mid 19th century Durham was described
as: 'an ancient city situated on 7 hills, in a beautiful winding of the river
Wear along the banks of which are pleasant walks, covered with woods and edged
with lofty crags. Here are woollen factories and iron works. The cathedral
is a fine building and the castle is a curious relic of antiquity'. County
hospital was first built in 1860. In 1861 a statue of the Marquess of Londonderry
was erected in the Market Place. In 1871 the first miners gala was held in
Durham for miners from the Durham coalfield. In 1893 an isolation hospital
for people with infectious diseases was built in Houghall.

DURHAM IN THE 20th CENTURY In 1901 the population
of Durham was about 16,000. In the 1920s science laboratories were built in
South Road. In the 1930s slum clearance went ahead in Millburngate and Framwellgate.
To rehouse the slum dwellers a new estate was built at Sherburn Road. Slum
clearance also took place in Old Elvet. In the 1920s and 1930s private houses
were built North End, Gilesgate Moor and Whinney Hill.In 1952 the chapel of
the castle was opened for religious use after a gap of 400 years. The university
was expanded. St Marys College was built in 1952. In 1960 the School of Oriental
Studies opened. Grey College followed in 1961. Then came St Aidan's College
in 1965. Then Van Mildert College in 1966, Trevelyan College in 1967 and Collingwood
College in 1973. The National Savings Office opened in Durham in 1961. The
new County Hall was built in 1963. The Magistrates Court was built in 1964.
In 1969 a Museum of the Durham Light Infantry opened. The University Botanic
Gardens opened in 1970. By then the population of Durham had risen to around
24,000. Kingsgate bridge was built in 1963. Leazes Road was built in 1967.
In 1975 a new Elvet bridge was built. Cathedral car park was built in 1975.
The Millburngate shopping centre was built 1976 in and enlarged in 1987. Durham
Castle and Cathedral were declared world heritage sites in 1987. In 1999 the
Prince Bishops shopping centre was opened.

DURHAM IN THE 21st CENTURY At the present
time a millennium project is being built. It includes a Millennium Hall and
a Millennium Square. In 2002 Radio 4's Today programme asked people to vote
for their favourite building. Durham Cathedral was the winner. Today the population
of Durham City is 27,000 while the population of the district is 81,000.

Note: If you live in Durham or have an interest
in the City and would like to add anything to this page i.e. photographs (must
be your own not pirated from elsewhere) or any local information please email
it to me at dave.hodgson1@ntlworld.com and I will include it on this page.